Design Conception and Painting Style
Article/ Hu Ying
The famous artist Mr. Chen Xiguang is a wise man who paint by soul. He presents the vivid and grand beauty of clouds and waters and the fantastic cracking of ice and snow as well as eruption of magma by traditional ink diffusion. His bold creation has promoted the difficult blending of ink and colors into a brand new artistic level. He integrates the brilliant light and shadow with the stroking of ink wash painting. On the basis of profound traditional skills, he is bold in thinking and creation and dares to break the conventions. He created unprecedented artwork with distinctive personal art language and won the reputation of “Urban No.1”with his own diligence and talent. The charm of Chen Xiguang lies in this extraordinary creativity. In a certain sense, his success is the best demonstration for the perfect integration of design conception and painting style.
We can capture a lot of traces of the world’s famous architects in Chen Xiguang’s works. The humanistic stories and regional flavors concealed in the architects are presented more vividly and clearly through Chen Xiguang’s re-shaping and refining. From “fascinating Shanghai Bund”and “riverside towns in the dream” to “enchanting Venice” and “resurgent cathedral”, Chen Xiguang gives us a fantastic feeling like traveling in time with his characteristic flowing brushwork.
Chen Xiguang always keeps a young heart. He like bold imagination and passionate creation. The urban night gives him a lot of inspirations. He has been painting till 3Am~4Am for a long time. Although he realizes he need to take regulated rest. But the burst of inspirations and passions can not stop his excitement and creation. That’s the case for artists. His architect paintings often take subjects from classical or modern art which are various succinct, bright, vibrant and bold in conception. He said the architects like building blocks are not art. Talking from design to art, he said artists should create works out of their own ideas; they can paint not only the world’s famous architects, folk landscapes but also architects that are designed by themselves and not existing in the world. I am not surprised at his idea. Xiguang’s creation covers a wide range of subjects including revolution, Buddhism, folklore and current events.
Xiguang pays much attention to the comprehensive quality of an artist. He believes life and experiences are the most precious wealth of an artist. His sufferings in childhood enabled him to experience many true affections. Thus, the facial expressions in his works are always realistic, natural and moving. In his new work Little Zhuoma, the depiction of the figure is extremely delicate; the blood streaks in little Zhuoma’s face are very clear. Xiguang said the artist must go to Tibet if he wanted to paint Tibet girls. Only when you have been personally to the scene, can you express your own art.
In Xiguang’s eyes, the dancer Yang Liping is the embodiment of peacock and the elf of dance. Many of his works take dance as subjects.
Chen Xiguang’s painting style comes out of his creation soul , his understanding of art, his accurate and the most important , his courage in exploration into the unknown. He keeps thinking and creating like an designer.